I'd done Strachan before, but quite a long time ago (2002 and maybe 2003).
What I had totally not remembered was the strange long detour at the start (if you do the "old trail" like 103 hikes suggests) where you hike a few km down the BP trail and then arc back to essentially just cover the same ground you covered!
That being said,.. that part of the trail is really lush, and worth seeing, but I do understand why people out for a workout might just go straight up the ski run for the first bit and probably shave off an hour.
This trail is your standard North Shore classic. Decent views (make sure you go to the North summit,.. it isn't nearly as daunting as it looks), and a nice loop trail so you don't need to cover the same ground twice.
For us, the ascent was straight forward (we did notice that the airplane debris had been spread to 2 places, from the original 1). There were bugs, but not a crazy amount by any stretch, and at the top a mild breeze was enough to minimize them.
On the way down we took the infamous Christmas gully. I can say confidently that snow is no longer an issue there as it often is. Maybe 2 spots that snow is an obstacle you need to solve at all, both only a few minutes long. However, we were really luck that our friend Gabriela spotted where the actual "trail" branches from the creek bed,.. I had already gone past it when she did and going is challenging on the slippery rocks up to that point.
We went for a drink on the patio of the Crazy Raven which was a first for me,... a nice addition to the hiking area. All in all, a nice throwback to when hiking for me was always on the North Shore, and always these 4-5 hour ones. ...

at 3pm Jul 03, 2014

We opted against the gully a month ago when it was still pretty full of snow. My preference is to go up the gully and return via the usual route. I really like that initial stretch, and the old Mt Strachan trail is a rare gem on the North Shore, having such a nice soft footbed and not a total root and mud fest.

Mt Strachan was my 3rd Wanderung callout and I had a tough time convincing my fellow hikers that the trail went off into the trees and not straight up the ski run. Coming back down, the group voted with their feet and just took the ski run anyway... it was a terrible decision and I hope they all suffered for it :-)